The new course Apple has plotted for its professional video editing software …

Apple has discontinued the "prosumer" Final Cut Express and its high-end Final Cut Server products in the process of its release of Final Cut Pro X earlier this week. And, to the surprise of no one, the complete restructuring of Apple's direction for its video editing software aimed at professionals has been met with loud criticism. But Apple plans to quickly improve Final Cut Pro X over time, addressing many of the complaints with incremental feature updates.

Many users have expressed their frustration with a litany of missing features in Final Cut Pro X. To begin with, there's no support for output to tape, and input from tape is very limited. There's no support for EDL or XML export, commonly used to move projects from the editing stage to the finishing stage using other software. There's no OMF output for mixing audio using Pro Tools. And because FCPX uses a completely re-architected underlying media handling and editing paradigm, it can't import projects from previous versions of Final Cut Pro.

Users who rely on those features simply won't be able to take advantage of FCPX's speed improvements and other changes, at least for now. "I think the broad market will adopt faster than the high-end market," editor and Final Cut Pro trainer Larry Jordan told Ars. "Some of the high-end market will love the program. Others—more tied to tape or multicam, for example—will not."

But that doesn't mean Apple is abandoning users that need such functionality. "Apple has been very specific, that this is not the final state of FCPX," Gary Adcock, owner of Chicago-based Studio 37, wrote in an article for Creative Cow. "Features are expected to be added quickly, via the App Store, with some of them waiting to show up natively in OS X Lion and with support for Thunderbolt."

Another editor with early access to FCPX during the beta process, Philip Hodgetts, suggests that Apple architected the new software for speed first, and that additional compatibility will be forthcoming as Apple works out how to build it with FCPX's new foundation. For instance, "multicam [support] will come in a future release, when Apple decides how best to implement it within the new application and architecture," he wrote in a recent blog post.

The same is true for support of various video formats and codecs. While FCPX supports some common tapeless formats, such as H.264 from DSLRs and AVCHD, it doesn't yet support XDCAM or Red formats natively. "Each codec/container's support has to be [re]written new in AV Foundation," Hodgetts wrote. AV Foundation is the media architecture introduced with QuickTime X, and "the reason for [FCPX's] phenomenal performance," he said.

Architectural changes are also at least partly responsible for the disappearance of Final Cut Server following the introduction of FCPX. The software allowed production facilities to store media assets on a central server, allowing multiple editors running Final Cut Pro to access and use these assets simultaneously. FCPX uses a single media store backed by Core Data instead of the per-project media stores used in previous versions of FCP, which makes it incompatible with Final Cut Server's design.

However, FCPX does allow media to live on any drive that your machine can access. "I do not currently have word on shared storage," Hodgetts said, "but I would expect shared storage on a SAN to work as long as Final Cut Pro X could connect to the shared media." Support for Apple's Xsan filesystem will be included in Lion, so Apple may be counting on this compatibility to pick up where Final Cut Server left off.

What's really rubbing users the wrong way, however, is Apple's decision to discontinue its mid-range Final Cut Express video editing software. When Final Cut Pro cost $999 or more, Final Cut Express offered users looking for something more powerful and flexible than iMovie with an affordable option. With Apple aggressively pricing the new FCPX at $300, it appears Apple saw little reason to maintain an additional $200 product aimed at a small number of "in-between" users.

Apple's Final Cut Pro saw fairly rapid adoption in the professional video and film editing industries. With the software so entrenched, it's no surprise that the complete rewrite for FCPX is raising some alarms. However, those who have had early access to the software and have spoken to Apple about its direction seem convinced the company is on the right track.

Kinda sounds like apple released what should have been a beta version of software, and like game developers have been doing for a while promising 'Updates'. How long do we have to trend like this?

I'd argue, as have others, that Final Cut Pro X is more like a 1.0 release of a new app, and less like Final Cut Pro 8. It's not beta quality—editors are already using it to edit serious projects—but like many 1.0 apps, not all the features that might be desirable were included in this release.

What is with Dev teams kicking half finished products out the door, then promising to patch in features that should have been included form day one? It can't possibly be easier to structure your development timeline and workflow like this. Having backwards compatibility should not be an add-on feature in a product as wide spread as this is in the Mac community. When you ask for the killer app that makes the Mac platform so appealing to creative professionals, they almost invariably come up with Final Cut Pro. Having a incomplete launch of your prize production application isn't going to win you any love or adoration after a big shop upgrades, and then finds they have to wait on the good graces of the FCP dev team to patch in export or import features.

The idea that there will be rapid releases that will solve many issues that prevents me from using the software is dubious at best. Quicktime-X was also supposed to be updated to match some features of Quicktime 7 Pro and this never happened.

In it's current form the new version is Final Cut "Prosumer". With the discontinuation of Final Cut Server, immediate EOL of Final Cut Pro (people still need to purchase additional seats), discontinuation of the XServe, dropping several components of the Final Cut Pro suite, and a cringe-worthy rumor on the Mac Pro update, it's hard not to believe that Apple is moving away from the professional market.

Why even release FCPX if basic functionality from FCP 8 is missing and will be "added later"? If components of FCPX depend on Lion, why not release it _after_ Lion has dropped and avoid bad publicity and stressing out the user base? Why not release it after the Mac Pro and Mac Mini refresh so Thunderbolt is available?

Why demo the software at NAB (National Association for Broadcasters) when several features that a broadcaster or film/video production crowd would use aren't there? W..T..F..?

Sigh.. it's really disheartening dealing with Apple for business. You never know what they are going to drop as secrecy trumps any sort of road map, information or feedback on software or hardware.

Blah. Another year long waiting game to see what they decide is "relevant." At least FCP 8 still works fine while we begin to look at Adobe Premiere (which has fantastic support for RED which FCPX still.. does not support natively) and Autodesk Smoke.

No. Seriously - this is just Apple PR firefighting - really look at the application - iMovie media storage, imovie importing controls, imovie timeline, no custom frame rates, no custom frame sizes, no ability to turn off the magnetic timeline, no support for Red, No OMF licensed, no ability to open the vast archive of previous broadcast work done in previous versions of FCP, no ability to share projects, no ability to turn off auto save, no multicamera editing, no ability to back up the application installer.

Apple killed a professional application and rolled out a prosumer application to capture the casual media consumer producer - they want them to buy the app like they would buy an ipod. Apple do not care or expect anyone to make a living using this software. The incredibly vast slice of professional features they dropped were dropped. Not forgotten, not tricky to code - they were dropped.

FCP as a professional application for the broadcast, film, design and corporate community is dead.

Why even release FCPX if basic functionality from FCP 8 is missing and will be "added later"? If components of FCPX depend on Lion, why not release it _after_ Lion has dropped and avoid bad publicity and stressing out the user base? Why not release it after the Mac Pro and Mac Mini refresh so Thunderbolt is available?

For some users, the functionality it currently has is all that is needed. At 1/3rd the price of the previous version, this is an excellent deal for them. I think you're right to be nervous though about whether Apple will release all the other features needed to make this a no-brainer upgrade for all current users, though. I *expect* they'll fill in the gaps since they seem to be running with just this one product now, but I'd be nervous if my livelihood depended on it.

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Why demo the software at NAB (National Association for Broadcasters) when several features that a broadcaster or film/video production crowd would use aren't there? W..T..F..?

So people can see where the product is going? I thought you wanted more information from Apple rather than less?

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Sigh.. it's really disheartening dealing with Apple for business. You never know what they are going to drop as secrecy trumps any sort of road map, information or feedback on software or hardware.

Final Cut Server has little to do with Xsan, except the fact that it can work on top of it. So, Xsan will not be "picking up" anything, unless Apple merges the FCS functionality in it - which based on the current OSX Lion betas is not the case. Saying that it might is akin to hoping that if Aperture were to be cancelled, its functionality could be picked up by the bundled HFS+ filesystem in OSX...

I am somewhat surprised that there are in fact people that went ahead with FCS implementations in the oh, say last two years - given the clear trend from Apple to eliminate or dumb down their backend and enterprise server offerings, it seems rather foolhardy to trust them with such a key infrastructure item... but I guess hindsight is always 20/20, etc.

It reminds me of the whole QuickTime X debacle. They said consider QTX as a 1.0 version and dropped features will be added very soon. But we are already near 10.6.8 and no features were added to it. They didn't mention anything about QTX in Lion. I hate how Apple is trying to "dumb down" everything that might be a little "pro" for the casual consumer.

I work in a shop with more than 50 Mac Pro Editing work stations and the whole process of installing through the Mac App Store is ridiculous, especially on 50 machines. I understand that Mac App Store is a great way to distribute software for the casual user, but not for the professional market. We somehow need to backup the installer since, we have machines that work offline for security reasons. So no FCPX for us.

Nice article that nips many reactionary rantings in the bud. I'm at a place where I'm less interested in professional editing than I used to be and my livelihood does not depend on it so this is just all peaches to me so far.

Apple could have held it in captivity longer, but besides the morale boost to the developers to have it out in the open, it's an important app to have released for other reasons. This is the flagship professional app for the newer approach to software development utilizing multiple cores, GPUs, 64-bit, and large amounts of RAM. It's a brand new app and it needs to now be tested in the public fire to perfect and show off this tech.

For now, FCP7 is still the only option for some people. Even if this new version had all those features professionals would have taken a long time to adjust to the improvements in editing workflow (to people set in their ways they don't look like improvements at first). Over time Apple can meet their needs as they adjust to the new paradigms and in a year or two it will all make sense to them while the needed functionality becomes available as well. That's the hope, anyway.

Personally, I'm looking forward to giving this a whirl when money comes into place and I'm ready to use it. It's really making me desire some new hardware, I have to say.

Apple just sold me a product that is essentially useless in any real post pipeline.

The system is completely closed. There is no control over how your media is transcoded, there is no way to output to tape (or, as far as I can tell, SDI), and you can't import or export XMLs. In short, it comes in The Apple Way, it's stored The Apple Way, and it goes out The Apple Way.

Essentially, Quicktime X is to Quicktime Pro 7 as Final Cut Pro X is to Final Cut Pro 7. And, I get it, it's fine - great, even - as a standalone, versatile, quality product, if you're outputting for web or non-professional use. It has some serious potential for serious editing, and it has some outstanding features. What I fear is that Apple is giving the finger to the industry AGAIN (see Shake; maybe Color). If you can't use FCP with other products, and you can't meet delivery specs with it either, what use is it? There are so many companies that rely on FCP's compatibility - The Foundry, Autodesk, Adobe, pretty much anyone who's written an FXplug, or software for Red, Autoduck, Boris, even Avid... etc.

Oh yeah, if you're an FCP editor, it's a pain in the ass. The interface feels much less snappy (unnecessary animation), many of the keyboard commands have changed, the toolset is completely different, and you have to buy Compressor for $50 if you want to export to anything other than gamma-corrected ProRes or H.264.

Kinda sounds like apple released what should have been a beta version of software, and like game developers have been doing for a while promising 'Updates'. How long do we have to trend like this?

No, it's nothing like that. It's a fully formed, working applications that's version 1.0. In a professional environment. people test things for a while to see if the workflow fits before they commit to converting to it. This app lives just fine right next to Final Cut Pro 7, and users can use both at the same time.

When you make such a drastic change of direction, and with a completely new architecture, you have a better way to enter the market?

No. The hysteria and hair-on-fire flagellation of Apple is reaching epic proportions less than two days after its release.

Wow, I haven't really been following this, but this is quite alarming. FCPX in its current state cannot be used in any professional broadcast or cinema pipeline. I will definitely NOT be "up"grading. It sounds perfect for making Youtube videos of puppies or people getting kicked in the balls. I've often wondered why Adobe didn't give up on Premiere years ago, but this sounds like great news for them. It seems inconceivable that Apple would walk away from a robust, professional tool that they've put a lot of effort and investment into building market share for over the past decade, but who knows?

This is not what the current users of FCP expected (FCP that took advantage of 64bit). Call it FCP Lite, because this isn't FinalCutPro. And killing off FCP Studio 3 at the same time? I think everybody has been very restrained!

Coming from a Premiere/Vegas background, I have no problems with FCPX (EDIT: after playing with it for a few hours). I do miss the ability to import an image sequence (I'm a Lightwave hobbyist too) and multiple camera support.

I agree completely with foresmac108 that it's more of a 1.0 new product than an upgrade.

Sounds to me like they will charge you for each feature that should of been there in the first place via some kind of APP Store.I edit video and I would not upgrade to this software at all.Go back to Avid or use Adobe Premiere.Screw FCP

Why do people assume that once a new version of something is released the old version is somehow RENDERED COMPLETELY USELESS FROM THAT POINT FORWARD?

Are some people just retarded? I think the more logical answer is that they just don't understand software development.

The version of FinalCut people are currently using will continue to work just fine as is. Apple is pretty much releasing a brand new application here and as with any new application, most PROFESSIONALS will use it side by side with current systems until they feel they are up to making the switch wholesale. I seriously doubt Apple expects professionals to completely switch over their workflows all at once. As with any new platform, there will be methods and features that are missing or don't function the same way. This is a professional grade application and as such people NEW to the application will use it without any problems, and people moving from the old version will do so when they reach a certain comfort level.

Apple is one of the few software companies willing to completely revamp their warez and piss some people off in the name of moving the architecture of a platform forward. In case people hadn't noticed, Apple's use of "X" indicates that it is a completely new architecture; Mac OS X, QuickTime X, FCP X, etc. which means, it is a version 1.0.

Microsoft or Adobe have so far failed to do the same for their professional Mac apps; they still run legacy Carbon code, which will no longer be supported in Lion.

Why do people assume that once a new version of something is released the old version is somehow RENDERED COMPLETELY USELESS FROM THAT POINT FORWARD?

...

This is a professional grade application and as such people NEW to the application will use it without any problems, and people moving from the old version will do so when they reach a certain comfort level.

The point is, the functionality professionals rely on isn't just lacking, it's entirely missing. Just as you suggest, the "X" is indicative of a new product line (although the "about" menu DOES say Final Cut Pro X Version 10.0); but it isn't the first time Apple has entirely dropped support for a product that industry professionals rely on.

Kinda sounds like apple released what should have been a beta version of software, and like game developers have been doing for a while promising 'Updates'. How long do we have to trend like this?

It's more like the transition from System 9 to OS X, 10.0.0 which while fully functional at initial release was still bare-boned and severely lacking until Apple and third parties started building on it. As the article says, all the stuff missing right now will eventually be added, either by Apple themselves or by third party developers and everybody will forget the days we all relied on OS 9. The pros complaining about missing features in this initial release can just keep using FCP 7 for a while and wait, just as a lot of people and companies stayed with OS 9 for a while.

FCP always felt to me like a non-Apple app which Apple purchased from somebody else, or at least the FCP team they bought from Macromedia were working autonomousy from all other things Apple and invisible to Steve Jobs' all-seeing Sauron eye. Clunky, non-intuitive, unattractive interface with a steep learning curve. Something they were stuck with until they got around to doing their own version, which has finally arrived. FCP X feels to me like what FCP should have always been if Apple had developed it from the outset. Much more enjoyable to use. Some people may deride this as making it 'prosumer' or even 'iMovie Pro' intead of fully professional, but being easy to use, elegant and intuitive makes it a far more productive app in far more peoples' hands, even professionals. FCP

The point is, the functionality professionals rely on isn't just lacking, it's entirely missing. Just as you suggest, the "X" is indicative of a new product line (although the "about" menu DOES say Final Cut Pro X Version 10.0); but it isn't the first time Apple has entirely dropped support for a product that industry professionals rely on.

Umm... How do you know Apple has ENTIRELY dropped support for the older version? True they released a new version stopped selling the older, but that doesn't mean they deleted all support articles and references from their website. It also doesn't mean that they'll no longer take support calls for the older version.

Also, Apple use of "10" marks a generational shift, it doesn't follow conventional versioning schemes. Version 7 was the last version of the previous generation of FCP.

Look, I work in broadcast, we've dealt with Final Cut and we didn't choose it as our future platform because what Apple just did is common of how they do things. No roadmap, vague promises to string you along that they don't deliver on, and in the end they yank the rug out from under you. If they'd just allowed people to keep buying FCP 7 while they continue to work on this mess of an editor they released they'd have cut back on alot of the criticism by allowing people to keep buying and using what works.

As with Quicktime X I fear most of those features that will supposedly be added later won't come ever. They have proven several times in the last year they don't care about pro use, and they've managed to kill off most of the enterprise features that existed. Now you have a glorified iMovie Pro package being called Final Cut when it can't do a damn thing Pro users need it to. A ton of sales execs at Avid, Sony, Adobe, and Grass Valley just got an early xmas gift.

I don't think the issue is v1.0 or v8.0... the issue is which market are they catering to. From what I hear it's pretty bug free and has a bunch of new features that work well, which is great for any number release. The majority of the complaints about missing functionality, however, aren't things that are hard to implement, but things that have been deliberately left out in order to appeal to a more consumer market. Stuff like the full auto everything (with no overrides), the App Store upgrade path (hugely problematic to post houses with dozens of edit bays to manage), the preset frame rate stuff (and no frame-based export tools).

In one way, I'm totally fine with that. Consumer video production is a way bigger market than professional video production, and they will sell a ton of copies of FCPx, which as a business is their primary goal. Well done, Apple. What bugs is the fact that they're still trying to pitch it as a ground-breaking tool for the future of professional cinema post to guys like me. I work a small post house, which, for the record, is PC-based, so it's not like I personally am being let down.

But the fact is that even though I'm not an Oscar-winning feature editor, I still need a lot of stuff that FCPX doesn't have. I need to see program out on a calibrated monitor. I need to send my projects to audio mixers and color graders, none of whom are using FCPX for their work. Even if FCPX had powerful enough finishing tools to exist on its own, it can't export professional master formats. And even though all my new cameras shoot to solid state, any documentaries I'm working on will require me to capture material from tape decks. I need frame accurate edits and exact lengths for broadcast projects, and the magnetic timeline makes that really hard. It sucks for even low-level pro work.

Most of the guys I know are in the same boat. We've all got production pipelines that depend on multiple pieces of software, hardware, and plugins, none of which are supported by FCPX. Yeah, I get that it's a total, ground-up rebuild of FCP7 (or iMovie) and essentially a 1.0 app, but even my little post house can't work without these features, and it doesn't feel like they're missing because the devs ran out of time. It feels like they are missing because Apple is taking the platform in a different direction for a different market.

And we have to guess if that's the case. They could tell us. They could let us know when FCP7 gets EOLed, and whether Color is coming back, and if they're working with AJA or RED on I/O and codec issues, and so forth. But they aren't, so we're just guessing here. And I totally understand why some FCP editors are feeling betrayed.

Umm... How do you know Apple has ENTIRELY dropped support for the older version?

I don't. And I hope they haven't. I'd love to see some of these features incorporated into FCP 8 (and, hell, I'm still waiting for Quicktime 8). But after seeing what they did to the Shake community, and seeing how Apple's market has changed, and how Apple has been responding to the change, nothing would surprise me... although it would puzzle me, because it's taken a while, but FCP has finally started taking Avid's market share (hence Media Composer's competitive pricing announced at NAB).

One way or another, it's confusing and misleading, especially since Apple is so tight-lipped about its roadmaps. I did not purchase the product I intended to purchased, and I think I'm justifiably pissed as hell.

Kinda sounds like apple released what should have been a beta version of software, and like game developers have been doing for a while promising 'Updates'. How long do we have to trend like this?

No, it's nothing like that. It's a fully formed, working applications that's version 1.0. In a professional environment. people test things for a while to see if the workflow fits before they commit to converting to it. This app lives just fine right next to Final Cut Pro 7, and users can use both at the same time.

When you make such a drastic change of direction, and with a completely new architecture, you have a better way to enter the market?

No. The hysteria and hair-on-fire flagellation of Apple is reaching epic proportions less than two days after its release.

Yes, I do have a better way: leave the old product on the shelf for the next 60 days, or until the first update is released with many of those fixes; OR make damn sure FCP7 and FCPX can exchange files somehow. That would solve the problem for many people.

I've always felt Final Cut was a primitive and aging dinosaur and this new version makes it finally an interesting proposition, at least for me. I never understood why people were so attached to the editing concepts of Final Cut & Premiere.

...(which has fantastic support for RED which FCPX still.. does not support natively) and Autodesk Smoke.

Best,

ATF

Epic distortion.

Yeah, it's been two whole days! What was Apple thinking? We need it NOW!

Hello,

Actually it's been a couple years that we've been waiting on the rewrite but who is counting? After working on a product so long, why not wait the extra few "months" that these rapid updates will take and release a final product that would make everyone happy? At least a majority of people that are scratching their heads on how to fit "Final Cut Prosumer" into their commercial pipelines..

Sorry, but the argument that this is really a "1.0 release" holds no water. If that were the case, users would still be able to purchase Final Cut Studio and Final Cut Express. Like the changes or not, let's not pretend it's something that it's not.